NAME
Path::Tiny - File path utility
VERSION
version 0.052
SYNOPSIS
use Path::Tiny;
# creating Path::Tiny objects
$dir = path("/tmp");
$foo = path("foo.txt");
$subdir = $dir->child("foo");
$bar = $subdir->child("bar.txt");
# stringifies as cleaned up path
$file = path("./foo.txt");
print $file; # "foo.txt"
# reading files
$guts = $file->slurp;
$guts = $file->slurp_utf8;
@lines = $file->lines;
@lines = $file->lines_utf8;
$head = $file->lines( {count => 1} );
# writing files
$bar->spew( @data );
$bar->spew_utf8( @data );
# reading directories
for ( $dir->children ) { ... }
$iter = $dir->iterator;
while ( my $next = $iter->() ) { ... }
DESCRIPTION
This module attempts to provide a small, fast utility for working with
file paths. It is friendlier to use than File::Spec and provides easy
access to functions from several other core file handling modules.
It doesn't attempt to be as full-featured as IO::All or Path::Class, nor
does it try to work for anything except Unix-like and Win32 platforms.
Even then, it might break if you try something particularly obscure or
tortuous. (Quick! What does this mean:
"///../../..//./././a//b/.././c/././"? And how does it differ on Win32?)
All paths are forced to have Unix-style forward slashes. Stringifying
the object gives you back the path (after some clean up).
File input/output methods "flock" handles before reading or writing, as
appropriate (if supported by the platform).
The *_utf8 methods ("slurp_utf8", "lines_utf8", etc.) operate in raw
mode without CRLF translation. Installing Unicode::UTF8 0.58 or later
will speed up several of them and is highly recommended.
CONSTRUCTORS
path
$path = path("foo/bar");
$path = path("/tmp", "file.txt"); # list
$path = path("."); # cwd
$path = path("~user/file.txt"); # tilde processing
Constructs a "Path::Tiny" object. It doesn't matter if you give a file
or directory path. It's still up to you to call directory-like methods
only on directories and file-like methods only on files. This function
is exported automatically by default.
The first argument must be defined and have non-zero length or an
exception will be thrown. This prevents subtle, dangerous errors with
code like "path( maybe_undef() )->remove_tree".
If the first component of the path is a tilde ('~') then the component
will be replaced with the output of "glob('~')". If the first component
of the path is a tilde followed by a user name then the component will
be replaced with output of "glob('~username')". Behaviour for
non-existent users depends on the output of "glob" on the system.
On Windows, if the path consists of a drive identifier without a path
component ("C:" or "D:"), it will be expanded to the absolute path of
the current directory on that volume using "Cwd::getdcwd()".
new
$path = Path::Tiny->new("foo/bar");
This is just like "path", but with method call overhead. (Why would you
do that?)
cwd
$path = Path::Tiny->cwd; # path( Cwd::getcwd )
$path = cwd; # optional export
Gives you the absolute path to the current directory as a "Path::Tiny"
object. This is slightly faster than "path(".")->absolute".
"cwd" may be exported on request and used as a function instead of as a
method.
rootdir
$path = Path::Tiny->rootdir; # /
$path = rootdir; # optional export
Gives you "File::Spec->rootdir" as a "Path::Tiny" object if you're too
picky for "path("/")".
"rootdir" may be exported on request and used as a function instead of
as a method.
tempfile, tempdir
$temp = Path::Tiny->tempfile( @options );
$temp = Path::Tiny->tempdir( @options );
$temp = tempfile( @options ); # optional export
$temp = tempdir( @options ); # optional export
"tempfile" passes the options to "File::Temp->new" and returns a
"Path::Tiny" object with the file name. The "TMPDIR" option is enabled
by default.
The resulting "File::Temp" object is cached. When the "Path::Tiny"
object is destroyed, the "File::Temp" object will be as well.
"File::Temp" annoyingly requires you to specify a custom template in
slightly different ways depending on which function or method you call,
but "Path::Tiny" lets you ignore that and can take either a leading
template or a "TEMPLATE" option and does the right thing.
$temp = Path::Tiny->tempfile( "customXXXXXXXX" ); # ok
$temp = Path::Tiny->tempfile( TEMPLATE => "customXXXXXXXX" ); # ok
The tempfile path object will normalized to have an absolute path, even
if created in a relative directory using "DIR".
"tempdir" is just like "tempfile", except it calls "File::Temp->newdir"
instead.
Both "tempfile" and "tempdir" may be exported on request and used as
functions instead of as methods.
METHODS
absolute
$abs = path("foo/bar")->absolute;
$abs = path("foo/bar")->absolute("/tmp");
Returns a new "Path::Tiny" object with an absolute path (or itself if
already absolute). Unless an argument is given, the current directory is
used as the absolute base path. The argument must be absolute or you
won't get an absolute result.
This will not resolve upward directories ("foo/../bar") unless
"canonpath" in File::Spec would normally do so on your platform. If you
need them resolved, you must call the more expensive "realpath" method
instead.
On Windows, an absolute path without a volume component will have it
added based on the current drive.
append, append_raw, append_utf8
path("foo.txt")->append(@data);
path("foo.txt")->append(\@data);
path("foo.txt")->append({binmode => ":raw"}, @data);
path("foo.txt")->append_raw(@data);
path("foo.txt")->append_utf8(@data);
Appends data to a file. The file is locked with "flock" prior to
writing. An optional hash reference may be used to pass options. The
only option is "binmode", which is passed to "binmode()" on the handle
used for writing.
"append_raw" is like "append" with a "binmode" of ":unix" for fast,
unbuffered, raw write.
"append_utf8" is like "append" with a "binmode" of
":unix:encoding(UTF-8)". If Unicode::UTF8 0.58+ is installed, a raw
append will be done instead on the data encoded with "Unicode::UTF8".
basename
$name = path("foo/bar.txt")->basename; # bar.txt
Returns the file portion or last directory portion of a path.
canonpath
$canonical = path("foo/bar")->canonpath; # foo\bar on Windows
Returns a string with the canonical format of the path name for the
platform. In particular, this means directory separators will be "\" on
Windows.
child
$file = path("/tmp")->child("foo.txt"); # "/tmp/foo.txt"
$file = path("/tmp")->child(@parts);
Returns a new "Path::Tiny" object relative to the original. Works like
"catfile" or "catdir" from File::Spec, but without caring about file or
directories.
children
@paths = path("/tmp")->children;
@paths = path("/tmp")->children( qr/\.txt$/ );
Returns a list of "Path::Tiny" objects for all files and directories
within a directory. Excludes "." and ".." automatically.
If an optional "qr//" argument is provided, it only returns objects for
child names that match the given regular expression. Only the base name
is used for matching:
@paths = path("/tmp")->children( qr/^foo/ );
# matches children like the glob foo*
copy
path("/tmp/foo.txt")->copy("/tmp/bar.txt");
Copies a file using File::Copy's "copy" function.
digest
$obj = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->digest; # SHA-256
$obj = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->digest("MD5"); # user-selected
Returns a hexadecimal digest for a file. Any arguments are passed to the
constructor for Digest to select an algorithm. If no arguments are
given, the default is SHA-256.
dirname
$name = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->dirname; # "/tmp/"
Returns the directory name portion of the path. This is roughly
equivalent to what File::Spec would give from "splitpath" and thus
usually has the trailing slash. If that's not desired, stringify
directories or call "parent" on files.
exists, is_file, is_dir
if ( path("/tmp")->exists ) { ... }
if ( path("/tmp")->is_file ) { ... }
if ( path("/tmp")->is_dir ) { ... }
Just like "-e", "-f" or "-d". This means the file or directory actually
has to exist on the filesystem. Until then, it's just a path.
filehandle
$fh = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->filehandle($mode, $binmode);
$fh = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->filehandle({ locked => 1 }, $mode, $binmode);
Returns an open file handle. The $mode argument must be a Perl-style
read/write mode string ("", "<" or "+>" modes will delay truncation
until after the lock is acquired.
See "openr", "openw", "openrw", and "opena" for sugar.
is_absolute, is_relative
if ( path("/tmp")->is_absolute ) { ... }
if ( path("/tmp")->is_relative ) { ... }
Booleans for whether the path appears absolute or relative.
is_rootdir
while ( ! $path->is_rootdir ) {
$path = $path->parent;
...
}
Boolean for whether the path is the root directory of the volume. I.e.
the "dirname" is "q[/]" and the "basename" is "q[]".
This works even on "MSWin32" with drives and UNC volumes:
path("C:/")->is_rootdir; # true
path("//server/share/")->is_rootdir; #true
iterator
$iter = path("/tmp")->iterator( \%options );
Returns a code reference that walks a directory lazily. Each invocation
returns a "Path::Tiny" object or undef when the iterator is exhausted.
$iter = path("/tmp")->iterator;
while ( $path = $iter->() ) {
...
}
The current and parent directory entries ("." and "..") will not be
included.
If the "recurse" option is true, the iterator will walk the directory
recursively, breadth-first. If the "follow_symlinks" option is also
true, directory links will be followed recursively. There is no
protection against loops when following links. If a directory is not
readable, it will not be followed.
The default is the same as:
$iter = path("/tmp")->iterator( {
recurse => 0,
follow_symlinks => 0,
} );
For a more powerful, recursive iterator with built-in loop avoidance,
see Path::Iterator::Rule.
lines, lines_raw, lines_utf8
@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines;
@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines(\%options);
@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines_raw;
@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines_utf8;
@contents = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines( { chomp => 1, count => 4 } );
Returns a list of lines from a file. Optionally takes a hash-reference
of options. Valid options are "binmode", "count" and "chomp". If
"binmode" is provided, it will be set on the handle prior to reading. If
"count" is provided, up to that many lines will be returned. If "chomp"
is set, any end-of-line character sequences ("CR", "CRLF", or "LF") will
be removed from the lines returned.
Because the return is a list, "lines" in scalar context will return the
number of lines (and throw away the data).
$number_of_lines = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->lines;
"lines_raw" is like "lines" with a "binmode" of ":raw". We use ":raw"
instead of ":unix" so PerlIO buffering can manage reading by line.
"lines_utf8" is like "lines" with a "binmode" of ":raw:encoding(UTF-8)".
If Unicode::UTF8 0.58+ is installed, a raw UTF-8 slurp will be done and
then the lines will be split. This is actually faster than relying on
":encoding(UTF-8)", though a bit memory intensive. If memory use is a
concern, consider "openr_utf8" and iterating directly on the handle.
mkpath
path("foo/bar/baz")->mkpath;
path("foo/bar/baz")->mkpath( \%options );
Like calling "make_path" from File::Path. An optional hash reference is
passed through to "make_path". Errors will be trapped and an exception
thrown. Returns the list of directories created or an empty list if the
directories already exist, just like "make_path".
move
path("foo.txt")->move("bar.txt");
Just like "rename".
openr, openw, openrw, opena
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openr($binmode); # read
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openr_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openr_utf8;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openw($binmode); # write
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openw_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openw_utf8;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->opena($binmode); # append
$fh = path("foo.txt")->opena_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->opena_utf8;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openrw($binmode); # read/write
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openrw_raw;
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openrw_utf8;
Returns a file handle opened in the specified mode. The "openr" style
methods take a single "binmode" argument. All of the "open*" methods
have "open*_raw" and "open*_utf8" equivalents that use ":raw" and
":raw:encoding(UTF-8)", respectively.
An optional hash reference may be used to pass options. The only option
is "locked". If true, handles opened for writing, appending or
read-write are locked with "LOCK_EX"; otherwise, they are locked for
"LOCK_SH".
$fh = path("foo.txt")->openrw_utf8( { locked => 1 } );
See "filehandle" for more on locking.
parent
$parent = path("foo/bar/baz")->parent; # foo/bar
$parent = path("foo/wibble.txt")->parent; # foo
$parent = path("foo/bar/baz")->parent(2); # foo
Returns a "Path::Tiny" object corresponding to the parent directory of
the original directory or file. An optional positive integer argument is
the number of parent directories upwards to return. "parent" by itself
is equivalent to parent(1).
realpath
$real = path("/baz/foo/../bar")->realpath;
$real = path("foo/../bar")->realpath;
Returns a new "Path::Tiny" object with all symbolic links and upward
directory parts resolved using Cwd's "realpath". Compared to "absolute",
this is more expensive as it must actually consult the filesystem.
If the path can't be resolved (e.g. if it includes directories that
don't exist), an exception will be thrown:
$real = path("doesnt_exist/foo")->realpath; # dies
relative
$rel = path("/tmp/foo/bar")->relative("/tmp"); # foo/bar
Returns a "Path::Tiny" object with a relative path name. Given the
trickiness of this, it's a thin wrapper around "File::Spec->abs2rel()".
remove
path("foo.txt")->remove;
Note: as of 0.012, remove only works on files.
This is just like "unlink", except if the path does not exist, it
returns false rather than throwing an exception.
remove_tree
# directory
path("foo/bar/baz")->remove_tree;
path("foo/bar/baz")->remove_tree( \%options );
path("foo/bar/baz")->remove_tree( { safe => 0 } ); # force remove
Like calling "remove_tree" from File::Path, but defaults to "safe" mode.
An optional hash reference is passed through to "remove_tree". Errors
will be trapped and an exception thrown. Returns the number of
directories deleted, just like "remove_tree".
If you want to remove a directory only if it is empty, use the built-in
"rmdir" function instead.
rmdir path("foo/bar/baz/");
slurp, slurp_raw, slurp_utf8
$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp;
$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp( {binmode => ":raw"} );
$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp_raw;
$data = path("foo.txt")->slurp_utf8;
Reads file contents into a scalar. Takes an optional hash reference may
be used to pass options. The only option is "binmode", which is passed
to "binmode()" on the handle used for reading.
"slurp_raw" is like "slurp" with a "binmode" of ":unix" for a fast,
unbuffered, raw read.
"slurp_utf8" is like "slurp" with a "binmode" of
":unix:encoding(UTF-8)". If Unicode::UTF8 0.58+ is installed, a raw
slurp will be done instead and the result decoded with "Unicode::UTF8".
This is just as strict and is roughly an order of magnitude faster than
using ":encoding(UTF-8)".
spew, spew_raw, spew_utf8
path("foo.txt")->spew(@data);
path("foo.txt")->spew(\@data);
path("foo.txt")->spew({binmode => ":raw"}, @data);
path("foo.txt")->spew_raw(@data);
path("foo.txt")->spew_utf8(@data);
Writes data to a file atomically. The file is written to a temporary
file in the same directory, then renamed over the original. An optional
hash reference may be used to pass options. The only option is
"binmode", which is passed to "binmode()" on the handle used for
writing.
"spew_raw" is like "spew" with a "binmode" of ":unix" for a fast,
unbuffered, raw write.
"spew_utf8" is like "spew" with a "binmode" of ":unix:encoding(UTF-8)".
If Unicode::UTF8 0.58+ is installed, a raw spew will be done instead on
the data encoded with "Unicode::UTF8".
stat, lstat
$stat = path("foo.txt")->stat;
$stat = path("/some/symlink")->lstat;
Like calling "stat" or "lstat" from File::stat.
stringify
$path = path("foo.txt");
say $path->stringify; # same as "$path"
Returns a string representation of the path. Unlike "canonpath", this
method returns the path standardized with Unix-style "/" directory
separators.
subsumes
path("foo/bar")->subsumes("foo/bar/baz"); # true
path("/foo/bar")->subsumes("/foo/baz"); # false
Returns true if the first path is a prefix of the second path at a
directory boundary.
This does not resolve parent directory entries ("..") or symlinks:
path("foo/bar")->subsumes("foo/bar/../baz"); # true
If such things are important to you, ensure that both paths are resolved
to the filesystem with "realpath":
my $p1 = path("foo/bar")->realpath;
my $p2 = path("foo/bar/../baz")->realpath;
if ( $p1->subsumes($p2) ) { ... }
touch
path("foo.txt")->touch;
path("foo.txt")->touch($epoch_secs);
Like the Unix "touch" utility. Creates the file if it doesn't exist, or
else changes the modification and access times to the current time. If
the first argument is the epoch seconds then it will be used.
Returns the path object so it can be easily chained with spew:
path("foo.txt")->touch->spew( $content );
touchpath
path("bar/baz/foo.txt")->touchpath;
Combines "mkpath" and "touch". Creates the parent directory if it
doesn't exist, before touching the file. Returns the path object like
"touch" does.
volume
$vol = path("/tmp/foo.txt")->volume; # ""
$vol = path("C:/tmp/foo.txt")->volume; # "C:"
Returns the volume portion of the path. This is equivalent equivalent to
what File::Spec would give from "splitpath" and thus usually is the
empty string on Unix-like operating systems or the drive letter for an
absolute path on "MSWin32".
EXCEPTION HANDLING
Failures will be thrown as exceptions in the class "Path::Tiny::Error".
The object will be a hash reference with the following fields:
* "op" — a description of the operation, usually function call and any
extra info
* "file" — the file or directory relating to the error
* "err" — hold $! at the time the error was thrown
* "msg" — a string combining the above data and a Carp-like short
stack trace
Exception objects will stringify as the "msg" field.
CAVEATS
File locking
If flock is not supported on a platform, it will not be used, even if
locking is requested.
See additional caveats below.
NFS and BSD
On BSD, Perl's flock implementation may not work to lock files on an NFS
filesystem. Path::Tiny has some heuristics to detect this and will warn
once and let you continue in an unsafe mode. If you want this failure to
be fatal, you can fatalize the 'flock' warnings category:
use warnings FATAL => 'flock';
AIX and locking
AIX requires a write handle for locking. Therefore, calls that normally
open a read handle and take a shared lock instead will open a read-write
handle and take an exclusive lock.
utf8 vs UTF-8
All the *_utf8 methods use ":encoding(UTF-8)" -- either as
":unix:encoding(UTF-8)" (unbuffered) or ":raw:encoding(UTF-8)"
(buffered) -- which is strict against the Unicode spec and disallows
illegal Unicode codepoints or UTF-8 sequences.
Unfortunately, ":encoding(UTF-8)" is very, very slow. If you install
Unicode::UTF8 0.58 or later, that module will be used by some *_utf8
methods to encode or decode data after a raw, binary input/output
operation, which is much faster.
If you need the performance and can accept the security risk,
"slurp({binmode => ":unix:utf8"})" will be faster than
":unix:encoding(UTF-8)" (but not as fast as "Unicode::UTF8").
Note that the *_utf8 methods read in raw mode. There is no CRLF
translation on Windows. If you must have CRLF translation, use the
regular input/output methods with an appropriate binmode:
$path->spew_utf8($data); # raw
$path->spew({binmode => ":encoding(UTF-8)"}, $data; # LF -> CRLF
Consider PerlIO::utf8_strict for a faster PerlIO layer alternative to
":encoding(UTF-8)", though it does not appear to be as fast as the
"Unicode::UTF8" approach.
Default IO layers and the open pragma
If you have Perl 5.10 or later, file input/output methods ("slurp",
"spew", etc.) and high-level handle opening methods ( "filehandle",
"openr", "openw", etc. ) respect default encodings set by the "-C"
switch or lexical open settings of the caller. For UTF-8, this is almost
certainly slower than using the dedicated "_utf8" methods if you have
Unicode::UTF8.
TYPE CONSTRAINTS AND COERCION
A standard MooseX::Types library is available at
MooseX::Types::Path::Tiny. A Type::Tiny equivalent is available as
Types::Path::Tiny.
SEE ALSO
These are other file/path utilities, which may offer a different feature
set than "Path::Tiny".
* File::Fu
* IO::All
* Path::Class
These iterators may be slightly faster than the recursive iterator in
"Path::Tiny":
* Path::Iterator::Rule
* File::Next
There are probably comparable, non-Tiny tools. Let me know if you want
me to add a module to the list.
This module was featured in the 2013 Perl Advent Calendar
.
SUPPORT
Bugs / Feature Requests
Please report any bugs or feature requests through the issue tracker at
. You will be notified
automatically of any progress on your issue.
Source Code
This is open source software. The code repository is available for
public review and contribution under the terms of the license.
git clone https://github.com/dagolden/Path-Tiny.git
AUTHOR
David Golden
CONTRIBUTORS
* Chris Williams
* David Steinbrunner
* Gabor Szabo
* Gabriel Andrade
* George Hartzell
* Geraud Continsouzas
* Goro Fuji
* Karen Etheridge
* Martin Kjeldsen
* Michael G. Schwern
* Toby Inkster
* 김도형 - Keedi Kim
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is Copyright (c) 2013 by David Golden.
This is free software, licensed under:
The Apache License, Version 2.0, January 2004